Meet Dave Law, founder of FAFF Coffee
I’m Dave Law, founder of FAFF Coffee. I’ve been immersed in the coffee industry for about 10 years now and while I’m a bit of a coffee geek, what interests me more is innovation in coffee. Finding ways to make outstanding coffee more accessible has always been my mission – drinking coffee should bring joy, not faff.
I moved to Edinburgh for University in 2004 and have never left. After graduating I briefly worked in digital marketing before deciding in 2010 that Edinburgh needed a speciality coffee bar. I co-founded said coffee bar - Brew Lab - in 2012 after two years of R&D.
Over the following years I started getting really interested in product development – in particular cold brew coffee - and trying to jump on what everyone thought was going to be a huge new trend in the UK.
Since then product development and marketing has been my passion. I find the whole process of conceiving a product and bringing it to market so exciting. Especially when you see the finished product for the first time! In my spare time I’m mostly on a bike! But I also love cooking, home brewing and pretending I’m good at DIY!
There’s always a lightbulb moment before the beginning of a new venture. What was that moment for you?
I got made redundant from my job at a large UK Specialty Coffee Roaster because of COVID and during the spring/summer of 2020 I was going over a bunch of different business ideas. I thought I was done with coffee, but I kept coming back to product ideas to make specialty coffee more accessible.
I was listening to a podcast about ecommerce businesses and decided that’s what I wanted to do; because it would enable me to work from anywhere (in an ideal word!). I was racking my brains as to what coffee related product I could launch.
I didn’t want to launch a standard roasted coffee or Nespresso Pod brand because every coffee brand out there is doing it, and its pretty hard to stand out. Then I started thinking about coffee bags and how what was out there was a bit rubbish. I bought a few and released that there were two problems: 1. they had a tiny amount of coffee in them – about half the coffee you want if you’re using a mug; and 2. They generally had pretty low quality or over roasted coffee in. So that’s where the idea for a bigger, better coffee bag with specialty coffee in came from.
How do you prepare for all the unknown obstacles when running your business?
I don’t think you can prepare. I think it’s one of the main aspects of entrepreneurship – you just need to be prepared that there will be unknown obstacles and you need to think problems through calmly to solve them. There’s always a solution.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
The specialty coffee industry is full of lots of brands taking themselves a little too seriously, looking a little too cool for school and inaccessible. The photography is all over produced, scandi, aspirational, flat lays full of succulents and complicated coffee making equipment.
FAFF is the antidote to that. We’re trying to be down to earth, accessible and honest.
What are your thoughts on failure?
It’s very important to go through – you learn so much from it and you shouldn’t be too afraid of it.
If you could be in a room with 4 entrepreneurs, who would they be and why?
My brother Rob (the founder of Trunki) because he always gives excellent advice.
Chloe Thomas from The Ecommerce Masterplan podcast. Because she just has such an amazing amount of knowledge about ecommerce.
James Watt – because despite Brewdog’s troubles recently, he’s clearly a master marketeer and has played a key role in revolutionising the UK beer category.
Sam Parr – founded Trends, a great entrepreneur newsletter and has a podcast that is very inspiring when it comes to business ideas. I’d love to be able to spitball some business ideas!
What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?
To get launched. It’s very easy to procrastinate and keep planning. But sometimes the most important thing to do is just get launched.
How did you fund the launch of your business and what creative strategies did you use to execute a minimal cash flow?
We used a Start-up Loan from the British Business Bank. I think the best thing we’ve done to minimise cash flow is to do as much marketing and content creation ourselves as possible. If you’re marketing on Facebook and Instagram you don’t need highly produced expensive video content. You can achieve some really effective content with an iPhone. We’ve also utilised our customers a lot for UGC content and that has really helped.
How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?
Realising that if you don’t give it a try, you’ll always regret it. And the other alternative is trying to find a job!
What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?
“Do I really need to be questioning this decision so much” – just get on and do it. If it doesn’t work, pick yourself up and try again.
Is it still possible to build a strong and successful business without social media. If yes or no, why?
Yes, but in the right market. I don’t think you can be an ecommerce business without social media. But if you’re an entirely offline business with a physical presence then yes, you can absolutely build a successful business without it. Take the fish van that comes to our estate every week as an example.
